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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23689561">For Your Consideration</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinjaSpaz/pseuds/NinjaSpaz'>NinjaSpaz</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>5+1 Things, Day 3 Five Plus One, Fluff, I brought the cat back, Kozume Kenma is a Good Friend, KuroKen Week 2020, Kuroo growing up, Light Angst, M/M, Rejections</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 17:20:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,052</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23689561</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinjaSpaz/pseuds/NinjaSpaz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroo has a lot to learn about dealing with other people.</p><p>Or: 5 times Kuroo is rejected and 1 time he's not.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>75</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Kuroken Week 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>For Your Consideration</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Ya girl is back at it again with Day 3 of KuroKen Week 2020 with 5 times plus 1 time, featuring rejection. Kuroo will be ok though, don't fret too much.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first time Kuroo was rejected, he was 5.</p><p>He cried and cried as his grandmother dabbed at the bloody scratch on his arm. “Now Tettchan, we mustn’t get so close to strays, remember?”</p><p>“Bu-but, Jiji let’s me pet her,” he sobbed, flinching as the alcohol-soaked cotton ball disinfected the wound.</p><p>“Jiji knows you,” his grandmother said calmly. “That other cat probably thought you were a scary human who might hurt them.”</p><p>Kuroo sniffled. “I’m not scary, though.”</p><p>“I know dear.” She gave a gentle kiss to the cleaned scrape before putting a neon bandaid over it. “But, cats are a lot like people. They don’t like it when you suddenly yell and run at them. You just have to be mindful of their space, just like you would with other people.”</p><p>“Oh,” he said. “I didn’t think of it like that.”</p><p>She tapped his nose with a grin. “Just as long as you remember to be more considerate of others feelings in the future, you’ll be fine.”</p><p>“Ok, grammy.” He was sad the cat wouldn’t play with him, but he would remember that lesson for next time.</p><p>The next rejections came a few years later. They moved to a new town and a new school. It had been hard to leave his friends behind. They promised to write every day, but it was easier said than done. In the end, they only sent half a dozen letters over the first couple months.</p><p>He knew he should try to make new friends at his new school, but everyone seemed to already have their friend groups. No one wanted to be friends with the quiet new kid with the weird hair.</p><p>He’d resigned himself to making it through middle school never making any friends when his grandparents brought him to their neighbor’s for dinner a few months after the move. They had a son about his age.</p><p>Kenma reminded Kuroo of the stray that had scratched him when he was little. He remembered to be mindful of the smaller boy when they were introduced. He was content to just watch the other boy play video games and it seemed Kenma didn’t mind his presence either.</p><p>Eventually they began spending more time together, and talking more. Kuroo wasn’t sure when it happened really, but he finally had a friend in his new town. He even convinced the younger boy to take up a sport with him.</p><p>They chose the same high school, so even though Kenma was a year younger, they could keep playing volleyball together for a couple more years. It was in that first year when he was alone that he suffered another rejection, though.</p><p>He had thought he could juggle volleyball and a social life. A pretty first year from another class confessed to him in the first month. He was so shocked, he didn’t say no. He thought he was being considerate of her feelings, but volleyball took up too much of his time.</p><p>She dumped him after a month. It had hurt, but he knew it was his fault. The cat had scratched him yet again.</p><p>Kenma teased him over it for weeks. For some reason, that lessened the sting. He was glad he still had Kenma to keep him grounded. He already had someone who didn’t mind how much time he put into volleyball, someone who could encourage him and help him along the way.</p><p>The worst rejections of his life came in his third year. The first being the shot at a national title. That was plucked away from him by his favorite rivals in the crows. He would sulk for days after, but he had to admit he was proud of his friends for coming as far as they had. After all, you could still be considerate of others even when you were hurting.</p><p>The other rejection in his third year came from his top choice university. The program he’d applied to was highly selective, only a handful of students were chosen every year. He was confident he had a good shot, but as the acceptance letters were coming in, the one he wanted most didn’t come.</p><p>“It’s not the end of the world, Kuroo,” Kenma said, barely glancing up from his PSP as they walked home after practice. “You got into every other program you applied to, and this one isn’t a full rejection. You’re on a wait list.”</p><p>It amounted to the same thing, in Kuroo’s mind at least. “No one who gets accepted to that program is gonna decline.”</p><p>Kenma shrugged. “Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. You might have hated the campus.”</p><p>“I doubt it.”</p><p>“Well, it doesn’t matter,” Kenma said. “You’re smart, you’ll do great wherever you end up. They’re all great schools, Kuroo.”</p><p>From anyone else, it would have felt like a jibe. From Kenma, it just made sense. It soothed his damaged ego. He leaned against his best friend. “What am I gonna do without you?”</p><p>A huff of air escaped Kenma’s nostrils. “As if you could get rid of me.”</p><p>Kuroo glanced down at the setter, warmth filling his chest. He could choose a school that was closer, and not have to be so far from Kenma. “What about you?”</p><p>“Hmm?”</p><p>“What are you gonna do after you graduate?” Kuroo asked.</p><p>He waggled the PSP slightly up above him, but keeping the screen in line of sight. “Gonna go pro,” he said, tone completely serious.</p><p>Kuroo snickered anyway. “Well then, one day when you’re rich and famous, you’ll have to let me move in.”</p><p>“Duh.”</p><p>Kuroo stopped in his tracks. Had Kenma heard him correctly? “Seriously?”</p><p>Kenma turned back to look at him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Yes?” He paused, looking up briefly before turning back to his game. “Of course, I’ll probably need to move in with you first while I’m getting started.”</p><p>Kuroo could feel the heat rising in his face and he was grateful for the darkening sky. He jogged to catch up. “I’m gonna be broke, too, yanno.”</p><p>“You can get a part time job like every other college student,” Kenma chirped back. “And I’ll win some tournaments.”</p><p>“Hey, don’t just go deciding things for me!” he cried. But as they fell into their usual back and forth, he couldn’t help feeling at ease.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I wrote this with a migraine so if it's incoherent it's Kuroo's fault.</p><p>This seems like a nice lead in for Day 4. Maybe we'll pick up this storyline for tomorrow as well?</p><p>As usual, if you enjoyed it, please leave a kudos, comment, or come yell at me on <a href="https://twitter.com/anininjaspaz">Twitter!</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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